Trouble In Tahiti and Aria's and Barcaroles: A Bernstein Tribute
Painted Sky Opera is proud to introduce the artist who will be bringing this wonderful work to life. Along with the artistic staff of Painted Sky, these singers represent a range of background and performance experience and we couldn’t be more excited that they are sharing their talents with us and ultimately you, our reader and audience member.
Megan Berti (Dinah)
Berti is a Houston-based mezzo-soprano who performs opera and oratorio across the country. She is thrilled to be returning to Oklahoma City to perform Dinah in Painted Sky Opera’s Trouble in Tahiti (Bernstein) after covering Madeline with them last season in Three Decembers (Heggie). Later this season, she will also be returning to California to sing the mezzo-soprano solo in Cantare con Vivo’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem. Last season, she performed Hansel with Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go!, the Mother and the Witch in the Rec Room’s Hansel and Gretel, Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri and Concepción in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole with Opera-tivo, and the mezzo-soprano soloist in Bach’s Mass in B minorwith Concordia University of Texas. Before that, she sang Rosina in Opera to Go!’s The Barber of Seville (Rossini) and made her Houston Grand Opera debut as Female Emilia in Carlisle Floyd’s The Prince of Players. She also recently performed atOpera in the Heights as Angelina in La Cenerentola and Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, and toured Europe singing Verdi’s Requiem with the Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra. Other recent roles include Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Flora (La Traviata), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Magali (Salsipuedes), Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Amelia (Amelia), Mistress Quickly (Falstaff), Anne (To Hell and Back), and Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito). With HGO’s Opera to Go!, Ms Berti created and debuted Annamaria in The Pastry Prince and The Puffed-Up Prima Donna, as well as Mother/Nightingale in Rapunzel. She performed in the Houston Grand Opera concert Music of Memory and Hope and toured Europe as a soloist for Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and Dvořák’s Requiem with BCC&O. Other oratorio performances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder, Bach's B Minor Mass, Verdi's Requiem, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Missa Solemnis. She is the winner of scholarship awards from the National Federation of Music Clubs, Moores School, Texas Music Festival, Dramatic Allied Arts Guild, Fine Arts Affiliates, and received the Presser Award. Visit www.meganberti.com for more information.
André Chiang (Sam)
Chiang brings his lyric baritone to repertoire spanning from Handel to Heggie. Mr. Chiang’s recent engagements include Charlie (Three Decembers) with Painted Sky Opera, King Melchior (Amahl and the Night Visitors) with Opéra Louisiane, Belcore (L’elisir d’amore) with Opera Birmingham, and Falstaff (Falstaff) and Eugene Onegin (Eugene Onegin) with Louisiana State University Opera. Previous credits include Falke (Die Fledermaus) and Ford (Falstaff) with Portland Opera; Anthony Hope (Sweeney Todd) with Virginia Opera; El Gallo (The Fantasticks) with Shreveport Opera; and Lancelot in the Young Artist Matinee of Camelot at the Glimmerglass Festival. Competition honors include winner of the 59th NFMC 2017 Biennial Young Artist Award and winner of the 45th NATS Artist Awards Competition. Upcoming engagements include Count Gil (Il segreto di Susanna) with Mobile Opera, Baritone Soloist (Carmina Burana) with the Canterbury Voices in Oklahoma City, and Schaunard (La bohème) with Mississippi Opera and Natchez Festival of Music. www.andrechiangbaritone.com
Zachary DeVault (Jazz Trio)
DeVault is a baritone from the OKC area. He recently earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and is currently pursuing a master’s degree under the tutelage of Dr. Barbara Streets. DeVault has been involved in previous Painted Sky Opera productions, such as Puccini's Tosca (Chorus) and Verdi’s La Traviata (Domestico/Chorus). He also sang the role of Charlie in PSO’s semi-staged reading of Jake Heggie’s opera, Three Decembers. Zachary was also seen in recent UCO productions such as Flotow’s Martha (Plunkett) and Copland’s The Tender Land (Top). DeVault would like to thank his family and friends for always supporting him and his voice teacher, Dr. Barbara Streets, for giving him the means and courage to perform.
Jeffrey Picón (Jazz Trio)
Picón, tenor, has proven his versatility as a concert and opera singer in a diverse selection of repertoire. He has performed at leading opera houses across the United States, including New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, to name a few. He has appeared in concert with the Cleveland Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, and numerous others. Picón can be heard most recently on recording as soloist for Berlioz Requiem with Oklahoma City University, Mike on the premiere recording of William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, and on the original cast album of The Music Teacher, an off-Broadway play/opera by Wallace Shawn and Allen Shawn for the New Group. His television broadcast debut was in December 2003 in the PBS production of Fiesta at the Philharmonic with the Naples Philharmonic, led by Erich Kunzel. Picón was part of the Emmy Award-winning production of Madama Butterfly for New York City Opera’s “Live from Lincoln Center.” He is a graduate of the University of North Texas and The Curtis Institute of Music and has been a member of the voice faculty of the Bass School of Music, Oklahoma City University, since 2008.
Autumn West (Jazz Trio)
West enjoys an active career in opera, oratorio, and concert performance. Some of her favorite roles performed include Galatea (Acis and Galatea), Dalinda (Ariodante), Proserpina (L’Orfeo), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Zerlina (Don Giovanni). West’s professional engagements have seen her perform with Cincinnati Opera, the Canterbury Voices, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin from Moscow, the Kemp Concert Series, TACTUS professional vocal ensemble, Sugar Creek Opera, Queen City Opera, Roundabout Opera for Kids, and the Carnegie Theater of Covington, among others. Last season, West made her debut with Painted Sky Opera in their production of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers. In addition to her performing, West is a committed music educator, currently in her second year serving on the voice faculty at the Wanda Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University. West also founded and serves as Executive and Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Chamber Opera, now in its fifth season of operation. West holds Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, as well as a Bachelors degree from Northwestern University.
For more information about this production, visit https://www.paintedskyopera.org/trouble-in-tahiti/